r/EustachianTube

I see a lot of prescriptions for treating ears that won't drain, but I've never seen one that kept working.

I had this happen 2 years ago, but the earliest ENT appointment was 4 months out so I recovered by the. And the ENT happily took my $400 to say I could hear.

Now, it's happened again, but my immune system destroyed my pancreas last year so it's even worse because the inflammation makes me need more insulin. I went to the doctor, and she charged me $300 to tell me to buy Flonase. I'm 3 weeks in with no changes and my experience seems to be common.

Since I live in America, I can't afford the thousands it would cost to ask a doctor what actually works, so does anyone know of any success stories or am I just fucked to have a full ear forever?

Has anyone dealt with this before or have any idea what this could be?
For quite a while now I’ve had constant fullness in my right ear. Every time I swallow I get a little click/pop. If I intentionally pop my ear (like equalizing the pressure), the fullness goes away for a few seconds and I can swallow without any pop at all. But then within a few seconds it feels like it “closes” back up or whatever it’s doing, and the fullness comes right back. Then every swallow has that little click/pop again.
I saw an ENT. They did a hearing test and said my hearing is normal. They also did the pressure test (tympanogram), and that came back normal too. They said they didn’t see anything wrong with my ear.
The ENT thought it could be inflammation, but even after getting my inflammation markers way down (from around 28 to about 5), the ear fullness never changed. He also prescribed muscle relaxers in case it was from muscle tension or TMJ, but those didn’t help either.

What do I make of this? It’s been this way for months now. I hate this full feeling in my right ear… I’m guessing this is just something I’m gonna have to live with…

I have tmj and constant tinnitus for 3.5 years with ear pressure, banging when swallowing, ear pain. I got botox i didnt want it but the drs were giving no other option. Ivetired massage, accupuncture, splints I just bite through custom made, soft diet, ect. Neuro wouldnt investigate my migraines further said it was from tmj same from ent. I had dysport and it made my symptoms so much worse. Im 11 weeks out and my ear randomly popped ao hard like never before in my life. I then heard my own voice for a week but other sounds were bit quieter. Thats thankfully calmed down a bit but every single time I swallow the banging is so much more than before and when I yawn its popping. Its so much worse than before botox . Could this be the muscles re adjusting? I can deffo feel my masster when I bite down but im worried its caused my symptoms to be worse and this is my new baseline. Im autistic so I feel these things alot. Please can I have some feedback.

Hi,

I'm a 26M dealing with a persistent health issue over the past 5 months and would really appreciate some insight as to what it could be.

About 6 months ago in early January, I flew home from a family trip. The next day, as one experiences over the holidays, I had a mundane flu - primarily congestion, fatigue, a sore throat, etc. Nothing crazy, I felt better in 3 days.

A day or two after the symptoms passed, I was driving and felt my ears were still clogged. Since it had been less than a week since I had traveled, I felt it was likely just leftover air pressure related symptoms from the flight. I proceeded to do a variation of what I now know is called the "Valsalva maneuver", something I had done many times before without thinking twice about it. It was basically my way of clearing a muffled ear and re-regulate things.

However this time was different. I was driving on the freeway and when I did the maneuver, I experienced horrible vertigo. It was very severe and I immediately pulled over (luckily I was in the final lane and was able to pull over quickly). The severe vertigo only lasted for about two minutes but it took me a while to compose myself and drive home.

From that point on, I have consistently been dealing with a flux of symptoms which I will post here:

• Persistent ear crackling/crinkling/popping
• Fluctuating ear pressure, occasionally accompanied by mild right-sided muffled hearing - though popping has occasionally occurred in the left ear as well.
• Intermittent dizziness/lightheadedness, especially while driving, standing for prolonged periods, exercising intensely, or small elevation changes.
• Symptoms often worsened by fragmented sleep, fasting, heat, excess caffeine, crowded environments, and intense exercise.
• Occasional lightheadedness preceding bowel movements, often improving immediately afterward, suggesting a possible autonomic component. (Very bizarre but it's like my body knows I have to crap before I do.)

I went to see an ENT. The audiogram test I did showed only a slight pressure discrepancy in the right ear, which should be consistent with Eustachian tube dysfunction, with normal hearing on audiogram.

ENT thinks it could be ETD or a vestibular migraine. Recommended a Mometasone Nasal Spray that I've been taking twice a day consistently for three months now with no results.

I also did a CT scan and luckily there were no structural issues.

Additional bits of context: Overweight (5'10 210 lbs male), currently pretty stressed about something, sleep can be better (I sleep enough but late times). Average diet but have a sweet tooth. Don't drink or do any drugs. I have a deviated septum, mitigating my air intake in the left nostril. Have also already been sick three times this year, which is odd.

Would appreciate any help! This has been really frustrating and I just want to regain my sense of self back :)

Hi everyone! I had a middle year infection two weeks ago. Lots of mucus, inflammation and red ears but what sent me to the Dr was the dizziness that came with it. I went on antibiotics and cortisone, the infection is better but dizziness is still there. I’m seeing the ENT tomorrow to see what’s going on.. I’ve never had this before so I’m concerned it could be something else. Went for a brain scan in October25 to check for something else but luckily all was fine! It feels like I’m walking on a boat. No real headaches maybe some ice prick headaches here and there. Still alot of mucus dripping down my throat but it’s clear. Is this normal? When will the dizziness go away? Also with all of this my health anxiety has really been exacerbated! I have two small kids and the fear of something happening to me is frightening!
Thank you for any advice!

I have been dealing with an issue in my ears for a couple years now and have been trying to figure out what the exact cause and problem is to get treatment if possible. My ears block both at times but normally one at a time whenever I do physical activities such as running, even walking for a long time, cycling and all sorts. The blocking itself is not as if I got water inside as if I’m at a pool or ocean, but more so it’s as if I can hear my own breathing like every breath I take I can hear it in my ear and it’s very loud. It’s usually triggers by pressure so whenever I do exercise or even walk and then swallow just anything such as saliva, they get blocked, as well as bending down or holding my breath and pushing almost, does get rid of it until I swallow saliva again and it gets blocked. This happens on a daily basis and has been going on for years now over 5. I recently, only about 2 or 3 years ago started getting vertigo from this as well. Usually the vertigo happens when I’m standing or walking so I never got to really see if the vertigo gets better or worse while lying down as it does for many people, but these episodes where the room spins for about 20-30 minutes each time only happen a couple times every few months, whereas the ear blockage happens on a daily basis. I did research and figured out that it could be a condition called eustasion tube dysfunction. The only treatment I saw available is surgery. I live in the UK so I went to the GP which is a general doctor that send you to another specialist only if they think it’s necessary, and all they did was send me to a specialist to remove my ear wax. That did nothing so now I’ve stopped trying lol. Any help or treatment options would be helpful.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice or similar experiences because I’m struggling to get a real diagnosis and treatment.

About 6-7 months ago, after a prolonged period of colds, nasal congestion and runny nose, I started noticing that hearing in my right ear was different. At my first ENT visit, the doctor found inflammation/infection in the right ear and treated it with antibiotics. The infection cleared, but the hearing symptoms never went away.

Since then, my right ear has sounded quieter, flatter and somewhat “robotic” compared to the left. In quiet environments I’m almost normal, but in noisy places (cafes, bars, parties) I struggle a lot, especially if someone is speaking on my right side. I often have to ask people to repeat themselves. I also sometimes need a second or two to figure out where sounds are coming from.

Several ENTs have mentioned that my right eardrum looks slightly retracted/pulled in. I’ve been diagnosed with tubotympanitis/possible Eustachian tube dysfunction in the past for the problem but i think these are just guesses. Tympanometry reportedly showed Type As curves. Audiograms showed only mild abnormalities, but subjectively the problem feels much bigger.

I’ve tried antibiotics, Flixonase, antihistamines, steroids, decongestants and various supplements without much improvement. A recent ENT said she doesn’t think it’s neurological and suggested a CT scan to look at the ear structures and hearing bones.

Has anyone experienced something similar after a cold or with ETD/middle ear problems? Did you eventually recover or get a diagnosis?

Hi all.

I have etd , tmj, migraines , facial neuropathy. I have tmj botox 11 weeks ago and my ear randomly popped suddenly last Tuesday 1 week ago. I could then hesr my own voice and my hesring was erythema slightly reduced but being autistic this is huge for me. 1 week on I can no longer hear my voice but my hewring is still slightly reduced and wverytime I swallow my ewr bangs very hard. My gp looked all looks fine. I had an autistic meltdown 5 nights ago and this extreme heat isnt helping. I have seen ent max fax neuro you name it they all pass me from eachother to eachother. I have no idea how to deal with this sensory overload. I also have chronic constant tinnitus which I use a fan for and when I can ignore it im fine and can cope. But right now I cant. Please can I have some advice :( its effecting my mh so much as I also have ocd.

I've ruptured my eardrums 3 total times due to military training. Following these ruptures I was diagnosed with dysfunction do to not being able to equalize while doing deep water training (only about 16 feet). A SOF naval corpsman recommended salt water gargles. Was wondering if anyone else has any experience with this? Wanted to see what info was out there before I risk rupturing an eardrum again.

Thanks.